Davies, Ronald B.
2007-02-21
2007-02-21
2003-04-10
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/3877
51 p.
As of 1987, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (ADAA) has imposed mandatory
minimum sentences for drug traffickers based on the quantity of the drug involved
regardless of its purity. Using the STRIDE dataset on drug arrests and a differences-indifferences
approach, I find that this led to an increase in cocaine purity of 42% and an
increase in heroin purity of 30%. Using data on emergency room visits, I show that the
concurrent rise in drug-related ER episodes is due to the rise in the standard deviation of
drug purity rather than the increase in average purity. Estimates suggest that the increases
in standard deviations at the time of the ADAA translate to increases in cocaine and
heroin ER mentions of 15% each. Because these negative outcomes depend only on the
standard deviation of purity, this suggests that drug users respond rationally by reducing
the quantity consumed in response to anticipated increases in the purity of these drugs.
Finally, again using the STRIDE data, I find that the ADAA is associated with an
increase in the standard deviation of cocaine purity, implying more cocaine ER mentions.
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University of Oregon, Dept of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers ; 2006-20
Mandatory minimum
Cocaine
Heroin
Overdose
Addiction
Mandatory Minimum Sentencing, Drug Purity and a Test of Rational Drug Use
Working Paper

Lollini, Massimo, 1954-(The Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature, 1998)

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Lollini, Massimo, 1954-
2010-10-23T19:27:16Z
2010-10-23T19:27:16Z
1998
Maravall's Culture of the Baroque Between Wölfflin, Gramsci and Benjamin
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10810
Maravall's interpretation of Baroque culture takes advantage of Gramsci's idea of hegemony and allows one to go beyond Wölfflin's esthetic conception of Baroque style, without forgetting the importance of his analysis that was important also for Walter Benjamin.
en_US
The Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature
Maravall, Jose Antonio
Baroque
Wolfflin, Heinrich, 1864-1945
Gramsci, Antonio, 1891-1937
Benjamin, Walter, 1892-1940
Maravall's Culture of the Baroque Between Wölfflin, Gramsci and Benjamin
Article

Essama-Nssah, B. (Boniface), 1949-
Lambert, Peter J.
2006-10-02T21:50:39Z
2006-10-02T21:50:39Z
2006-09-22
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/3429
32 p.
Poverty reduction has become a fundamental objective of development, and therefore a metric for assessing the effectiveness of various interventions. Economic growth can be a powerful instrument of income poverty reduction. This creates a need for meaningful ways of assessing the poverty impact of growth. This paper follows the elasticity approach to propose a measure of pro-poorness defined as a weighted average of the deviation of a growth pattern from the benchmark case. The measure can help assess pro-poorness both in terms of aggregate poverty measures which are members of the additively separable class, and at percentiles. It also lends itself to a decomposition procedure, whereby the overall pattern of income growth can be unbundled, and the contributions of income components to overall pro-poorness identified. An application to data for Indonesia in the 1990s reveals that the amount of poverty reduction achieved over that period remains far below what would have been achieved under distributional neutrality. This conclusion is robust to the choice of a poverty measure among members of the additively separable class, and can be tracked back to changes in expenditure components.
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University of Oregon, Dept of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers ; 2006-12
Measuring the Pro-Poorness of Income Growth Within an Elasticity Framework
Working Paper

Ellis, Christopher J.
Nouweland, Anne van den
2003-08-07T23:34:09Z
2003-08-07T23:34:09Z
2000-02-01
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/58
We construct a market based mechanism that induces players in a non-cooperative game to make the same choices as characterize cooperation. We then argue that this mechanism is applicable to a wide range of economic questions and illustrate this claim using the problems of "The Tragedy of the Commons" and "R&D Spillovers in Duopoly".
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University of Oregon, Dept. of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers;2000-2
Quantitative methods
Game theory
Mathematics
Microeconomics
Welfare economics
Public economics
Public goods
A Mechanism for Inducing Cooperation in Non-Cooperative Environments: Theory and Applications
Working Paper

Merskin, Debra
2011-11-02T20:58:53Z
2011-11-02T20:58:53Z
2010-12
1433111403
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11738
This book is an examination of how American mass media, including advertising, presents Otherness - anyone or anything constructed as different from an established norm - in terms of gender, race, sex, disabilities, and other markers of difference. Using a mythological lens, the book looks below the surface of media content to explore the psychological, social, and economic underpinnings of a system of beliefs that result in prejudice, discrimination, and oppression. Designed to raise awareness of the foundations of historically-based inequities in the American social, cultural, and economic milieu, the author shows how inequalities are maintained, at least in part, by mass media, popular culture, and advertising representations of Otherness. The book aims to increase awareness of stereotyping in the media, and expose how the construction of people as Others contributes to their marginalization. Written in an accessible and engaging style, with student-friendly discussion questions and resources, this book is suitable for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
en_US
Peter Lang
Race
Gender
Sexuality
Media
Stereotypes (Social psychology)
Media, Minorities, & Meaning: A Critical Introduction
Book

McKnight, Robin(University of Oregon, Dept. of Economics, September , 2004)

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McKnight, Robin
2004-10-24T14:55:00Z
2004-10-24T14:55:00Z
2004-09
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/241
43 p.
Recent publicity about “concierge physicians” has raised concerns about the potential adverse effects of allowing physicians to bill their patients for fees that are above normal copayments and insurance reimbursements. In particular, consumers who are unable to afford the additional costs of such physicians are concerned that their access to highquality
medical care could be compromised. Such concerns in the context of Medicare led states and the federal government, beginning in the late 1980s, to restrict the ability of physicians to “balance bill” beneficiaries for charges in excess of the copayment and reimbursement amounts approved by Medicare. In this paper, I provide empirical
evidence that this policy change resulted in an 8% reduction in out-of-pocket medical expenditures by elderly households. In spite of the change in marginal reimbursement to
physicians, however, I find little evidence that the restrictions affected quantity or quality
of care.
National Institute on Aging, Grant #K12-AG00983
to the National Bureau of Economic Research
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University of Oregon, Dept. of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers;2004-13
Price controls
Medicare
Physician reimbursement
Medicare Balance Billing Restrictions: Impacts on Physicians and Beneficiaries
Working Paper

DePrince, Anne P.
Freyd, Jennifer J.
2003-08-11T18:43:51Z
2003-08-11T18:43:51Z
2001
DePrince, A.P. & Freyd, J.J. (2001). Memory and dissociative tendencies: The roles of attentional context and word meaning in a directed forgetting task. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation 2 (2), 67-82.
1529-9732
1529-9732
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/dljtd2001.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/66
Article
copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service:
1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website:
<http://www.HaworthPress.com> (c) 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Conceptual and methodological approaches from cog nitive science have increasingly been applied to research examining the relation between trauma, dissociation and basic cognitive functioning. The
current study replicates and extends recent research that examined performance in a directed forgetting task using PTSD and trauma history as
the grouping variables (McNally, Metzger, Lasko, Clancy, & Pitman,
1998) to college students who were classified as high or low dissociators
based on their performance on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES:
Bernstein & Putnam, 1986). High and low DES participants’ performance was examined under two attentional contexts: a selective attention condition and two new divided attention conditions (based on
DePrince & Freyd, 1999). Differences between the groups were revealed
when a divided attention version of the task was employed. Consistent
with DePrince and Freyd (1999), when divided attention was required,
high DES participants recalled fewer trauma and more neutral words
than did low DES participants, who showed the opposite pattern.
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Journal of Trauma & Dissociation
Memory
Trauma
Dissociation (Psychology)
Directed forgetting task
Memory and Dissociative Tendencies: The Roles of Attentional Context and Word Meaning in a Di rected Forgetting Task
Article

Wozniak, David
Harbaugh, William
Mayr, Ulrich, 1962-
2011-02-09T22:47:36Z
2011-02-09T22:47:36Z
2010-10-28
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10960
60 p.
Economic experiments have shown that in mixed gender groups women are more reluctant than men
to choose tournaments when given the choice between piece rate and winner-take-all tournament
style compensation. These gender difference experiments have all relied on a framework where
subjects were not informed of their abilities relative to potential competitors. We replicate these
findings with math and word tasks, and then show that feedback about relative performance
moves high ability females towards more competitive compensation schemes, moves low ability
men towards less competitive schemes such as piece rate and group pay, and removes the average
gender difference in compensation choices. We also examine between and within-subjects differences
in choices for females across the menstrual cycle. We find women’s relative reluctance to choose
tournaments comes mostly from women in the low hormone phase of their menstrual cycle. Women
in the high hormone phase are substantially more willing to compete than women in the low phase,
though still somewhat less willing to compete than men. There are no significant differences between
the choices of any of these groups after they receive relative performance feedback.
en_US
University of Oregon, Dept of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers;2010-2
Menstrual cycle
Competition (Psychology) -- Sex differences
Menstrual Cycle and Performance Feedback Alter Gender Differences in Competitive Choices
Working Paper

MacGregor, Donald
Race, Margaret
2016-11-08T19:41:10Z
2016-11-08T19:41:10Z
2001-02
MacGregor, D. G., & Race, M.S. (2001). Microbiologists’ perceptions of planetary protection (Report No. 98-3). Eugene, OR: Decision Research.
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/20638
15 pages
As society enters the 21st century, NASA and its international partners are planning to
conduct numerous new and exciting missions within the solar system. Many of these missions are
motivated by scientific questions in Astrobiology that focus on the origin and evolution of life in
the universe. These explorations will involve the search for evidence of life beyond Earth and the
return of geological and atmospheric samples to Earth for analysis. In a society that places everincreasing
importance on the role of public involvement in science and technology policy,
questions about the possible risks of biological contamination from sample return missions will be
examined and debated in the media. These perceptions will, over time, form an important input to
the development of risk management policies and strategies concerning sample return missions.
Studies on risk perception that we conduct today form a baseline of information against which we
can observe changes in public risk attitudes.
A significant barrier to the development of effective risk management results, in part, from
the difficulties lay people have understanding the complexities of science and technical risk
assessment. These difficulties are potentially magnified in the case of interplanetary biological
protection, where scientific understanding of extraterrestrial organisms is particularly low (or
nonexistent), the potential consequences of exposure to (or contamination by) such organisms (if
they exist) is virtually unknown, and the mechanisms for managing the risks of such exposure are
either novel or complex.
Previous research has shown that many of the problems faced by risk-management
organizations are the result of differing perceptions of risk (and risk management) between the
general public and scientific experts. Indeed, a consistent finding in risk perception research is the heavy reliance that lay people place upon scientific disagreements as indicative of the degree to
which they should be concerned about a risk issue. In essence, if experts don’t know enough to
agree, then there must be a problem worthy of attention.
As plans for sample return missions progress and requirements for planetary protection are
analyzed and debated, members of various scientific disciplines, including microbiologists, will be
called upon for judgments concerning the potential hazardousness of these endeavors, as they
were during the Apollo Program when lunar samples were returned to Earth. Some of these
judgments will be made in the context of technical and scientific meetings or the environmental
impact statement process; others will be made in response to media probes of experts’ views
about the risks to society of space research activities.
Microbiology is a scientific discipline that offers a unique perspective on planetary
protection because extraterrestrial life in our solar system, should it exist, is most likely microbial
in nature, and methods of quarantining, handling, analysis, and curation of samples returned from
Mars (or other celestial bodies) will be based on those of microbiological science. Likewise,
microbiology will continue to inform space planners about approaches for planetary protection.
The development of an effective planetary protection policy will require microbiologist input to
achieve the goals of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, by which exploration must be done in a way
that avoids harmful cross-contamination between planets and other bodies during exploration.
This study focuses on microbiologists’ perceptions, views, attitudes, and beliefs concerning
planetary exploration and planetary protection, including the risks associated with sample return
and the adequacy of risk management approaches which seek to safeguard the environment,
health, and safety of Earth.
en_US
Decision Research
Decision Research; 98-03;
Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US
perception
planetary protection
microbiology
Microbiologists’ Perceptions of Planetary Protection
Article

McMillen, Daniel P.
Seaman, Paul T.
Singell, Larry D. Jr.
2004-12-10T22:53:27Z
2004-12-10T22:53:27Z
2003-12
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/305
33 p.
Prior work suggests coordination failure between labour and education markets leads some workers to have educational qualifications in excess of those specified for the job (overeducation) and others to have less (undereducation). This paper empirically models and tests the hypothesis that overeducation and undereducation arise out of a hedonic matching process that maximises net benefits to workers and firms over the life of the match. Specifically, the overeducated begin in low-paying, entry-level jobs early in their careers that prepare them for higher-paying future positions that require their educational background, whereas the undereducated start in lower-paying, exactly-educated jobs that can signal skills necessary for promotion. The empirical model shows that, because all workers are exactly-educated during at least a portion of their career, the type of educational match cannot be directly identified using a cross-section, but may be imputed from the differences between predicted and observed qualifications of the worker and predicted and observed requirements of the firm. The empirical analysis uses a rich cross-section of British working-age males to identify match types. Using contemporaneous, forward- and backward-looking data, we confirm that over and undereducated matches differ in their on-the-job training and promotion opportunities, which yield a trade-off in the pre- versus post-match return to human capital.
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University of Oregon, Dept. of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers;2004-1
Overeducation
Undereducation
A Mismatch Made in Heaven: A Hedonic Analysis of Overeducation and Undereducation
Working Paper

Branch, William A.; Evans, George W., 1949-(University of Oregon, Dept of Economics, October 18, 2005)

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Branch, William A.
Evans, George W., 1949-
2005-12-15T20:01:06Z
2005-12-15T20:01:06Z
2005-10-18
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/1960
41 p.
This paper identifies two channels through which the economy can generate endogenous inflation and output volatility, an empirical regularity, by introducing model uncertainty into a Lucas-type monetary model. The equilibrium path of inflation depends on agents' expectations and a vector of exogenous random variables. Following Branch and Evans (2004) agents are assumed to underparameterize their forecasting models. A Misspecification Equilibrium arises when beliefs are optimal given the misspecification and predictor proportions based on relative forecast performance. We show that there may exist multiple Misspecification Equilibria, a subset of which are stable under least squares learning and dynamic predictor selection. The dual channels of least squares parameter updating and dynamic predictor selection combine to generate regime switching and endogenous volatility.
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University of Oregon, Dept of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers ; 2005-21
Lucas model
Model uncertainty
Adaptive learning
Rational expectations (Economic theory)
Volatility
Model Uncertainty and Endogenous Volatility
Working Paper

Branch, William A.; Evans, George W., 1949-(University of Oregon, Dept of Economics, April 30, 2010)

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Branch, William A.
Evans, George W., 1949-
2011-02-10T00:18:15Z
2011-02-10T00:18:15Z
2010-04-30
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10965
25, 10 p. : ill. (some col.)
This paper studies the implications for monetary policy of heterogeneous
expectations in a New Keynesian model. The assumption of rational expec-
tations is replaced with parsimonious forecasting models where agents select
between predictors that are underparameterized. In a Misspecification Equilibrium agents only select the best-performing statistical models. We demonstrate
that, even when monetary policy rules satisfy the Taylor principle by adjusting
nominal interest rates more than one for one with inflation, there may exist
equilibria with Intrinsic Heterogeneity. Under certain conditions, there may
exist multiple misspecification equilibria. We show that these findings have important implications for business cycle dynamics and for the design of monetary
policy.
en_US
University of Oregon, Dept of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers;2010-4
Heterogeneous expectations
Monetary policy
Multiple equilibria
Adaptive learning
Monetary Policy and Heterogeneous Expectations
Working Paper

Evans, George W., 1949-
Honkapohja, Seppo, 1951-
2003-08-15T20:46:30Z
2003-08-15T20:46:30Z
2002-05-22
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/95
Commitment in monetary policy leads to equilibria that are superior to those from optimal discretionary policies. A number of interest rate reaction functions and instrument rules have been proposed to implement or approxmiate commitment policy. We assess these optimal reaction functions and instrument rules in terms of whether they lead to an RE equilibrium that is both locally determinate and stable under adaptive learning by private agents. A reaction function that appropriately depends explicitly on private expectations performs well on both counts.
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en_US
University of Oregon, Dept. of Economics
University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers;2002-11
Determinacy
Stability
Adaptive learning
Interest rate setting
Commitment
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Monetary policy (Targets, instruments, and effects)
Monetary policy, expectations and commitment
Working Paper